When Leigh Young-ji and her husband got married and moved into their apartment, the amiable couple decided to get a dining table for eight, in order to invite guests and host dinners. Leigh recalls having hosted some 30 dinner parties over the past year.

"People usually think parties take place on special days, and that they require an immense amount of preparation, but in our case, it's really about serving home-cooked meals to people we truly like and care about."

At first it would take her a full day to prepare, but over the course of several dozen parties, Leigh now says she can drop by a nearby retailer after work and have everything ready ― from food, tableware, candles, music to a screen airing fashion shows ― in two hours.

Leigh is hosting two parties this month, one for her younger sister who is getting married, and another for her husband's business partner. Since it is the end of the year, she is planning on fancying up the menu a notch to prepare steak with Gluhwein, as well as a cream cheese frosted devil's food cake and Dom Perignon champagne.

Full-scale private parties

But private parties don't only refer to dinner parties that accommodate a handful of guests. Although almost unheard of here, they can also be organized as full-blown parties with hundreds of guests.

Jun Kyoung-woo, with seven others, is planning a year-end party this month. Taking place at a studio in Hannam-dong, it is set to be full-scale, complete with a bar, DJ, performances and some 200 guests.

"The most dominant form of parties has been promotional events hosted by companies, but these are never really much fun. This is because people attending such parties are there to work," said Jun.

"Private parties, on the other hand, can be a lot more fun, but since they've been considered something upscale and costly, they haven't been widely enjoyed. However, I happened to go to a private party last year and had a great time. So I thought of hosting a similar sort of gathering this year."

So Jun got thinking and found several more people who were in for the idea. This was in October, and with many of the hosts working for the media, in the course of two months they were able to secure sponsorships from food and beverage companies. The hosts, Jun says, will assume as much work as they can ― including making drinks and snacks ― as the bottom line is to keep costs low. This is so that guests could come and have fun without having to pay an exorbitant fee, he said.

Party trend

Jung Ji-su, a noted party planner and president of Incheon Culture and Art College, says the party trend has shifted from corporate brand/product promotion parties to private parties."Due to the tight economy, the party industry hasn't exactly been thriving. Instead of fancy hotel venues, people are increasingly seeking their favorite restaurants, cafés or modest accommodation facilities as places to host parties and a growing number are also choosing to open up their homes," Jung said.